Facilitating skill development and knowledge sharing
Bristol City Council have been leading a Community Resilience Fund during 2023, a one-off capital grant fund to support community and voluntary organisations across Bristol to recover from the pandemic, increase their sustainability and continue the vital work they do for the long term. The fund focused on organisations based in and working with the most deprived areas of the city.
A key challenge for the fund was how to support applicants to develop and refine proposals for their digital infrastructure and expertise to support decision-making for funding.
Dot Project mentored Bristol City Council to understand the nature of digital infrastructure projects, and provided specialist guidance material for applicants to be better equipped to identify and prioritise digital infrastructure needs.
Dot Project provided specialist mentoring support to improve readiness for fund applicants, guiding budgeting and planning processes for digital infrastructure projects.
Summary
Specialist support to plan digital infrastructure projects
Dot Project provided specialist mentoring support across a number of applicants, and to the fund itself to deepen understanding of digital infrastructure needs, and provide decision-making guidance on applications.
Through the application window, Dot Project was on hand to rapidly identify and onboard specialist mentoring and technical expertise to support applicant organisations with their vision and planning for digital infrastructure projects. By way of introduction, 1:1 conversation sessions with each organisation more deeply understand knowledge gaps and potential risks in readiness for funding.
Specialist mentors were sourced across a breadth of digital technology expertise including IT equipment (phones, printers, mobiles, laptops), upgrades and networking, managing digital partners, data management, case management systems, developing digital skills and managing website projects.
Dot Project supported 8 organisations with mentoring. Fund applicants were matched with a mentor to address priority aspects of their applications who could bring specific knowledge and expertise to 1:1 mentoring and Q&A session.. Each mentoring session followed with specific guidance notes and relevant resources to further enable project planning and readiness for funding.
Out of the 53 successful organisations receiving funding via the Community Resilience Fund, 21 have digital elements to their projects.
“Many thanks for this and thank you so much for your time this week, the conversations and guidance were really helpful and informative and I think outlines the importance of this work for our charity to help it to grow in the most sustainable way. It would be fantastic to achieve some funding towards this work but our meetings certainly helped to refine and clarify the steps we need to take regardless”. Alessandra, Changes
“Thanks for your and Chris's time yesterday and this helpful summary of our conversation. I also appreciate the additional guidance around devices used by clients and will look at your guide to moving to the cloud”. Ruth - In Hope
“We really appreciate the work you are doing within our tight timeframes! Completely understand the challenge. All your support adds value, no matter when it happens”. Bristol City Council
“We asked Dot Project to provide tailored support to organisations applying to the Community Resiliency Fund in a very tight timeframe, and they really delivered. They kept us up to date with progress of the support they were providing and produced clear and comprehensive reports right when we needed them. They have been a joy to work with”. Robyn Taylor, Development Officer, Bristol City Council